Friday at Gary con was a rather stressful and busy day for me. Our screening was scheduled for the late afternoon, so I was gathering all kinds of gear and mentally preparing.

Kevin helped tech everything, which as a seasoned tv and film production guy, I can say went very smoothly. Kevin and I just locked into tech dude mode and made it happen without a hitch.

We had a good turnout for the event. I talked for a bit and gave some background on where the movie project began and where it is today. Then we showed the movie sections and I hid in the back and watched how people reacted. Everyone laughed where things were funny and everyone gasped where things weren't.

Tranquility bay here, we have touchdown -- Mission Accomplished!

I followed up the screening with a Q & A. Perhaps the most critical question was asked at that point: How do we help you get the movie done.

And I once again responded with: Get the word out. Tell people about your experience of seeing the movie drafts. SHARE our posts to your friend's Facebook walls. Help us increase awareness and get people to like this FB page. TAG your friends if you see them in one of these photos.

We're feverishly working to get the film done, but we need our fans to help prove that people would actually want to see this movie.

We hope everyone likes the posters they got at the screening. ;)

Kevin posted some stills from the screening here:
https://www.facebook.com/BlackmoorCastle/photos/pcb.1682107415168206/1682106685168279/?type=3&theater

(facebook being the wonky thing that it is, links the photos backward, so you have to click left to see the images.)

And then I wandered around some more and just soaked up the vibes of gaming going on all around me. The sand table in the legends room, Mike Carr clearly having a blast running a naval battle, Paul Stormberg caught in the act as he ran a group in an AD&D game... and having way too much fun doing it!

Did I mention there was gaming going on everywhere, even in the hallways and balcony areas?

I'm posting more random gaming photos, even if they're a bit out of order. :)

We are still doing the Poster Give-Away.

-The cut-off date for entering is the last day of the month-

Entering to win a poster is easy, get on our mailing list here:
http://www.secretsofblackmoor.com/

If you have not seen the trailer yet, it's right here.

Happy gaming everyone!​​

​Well, we've gone and announced a Poster Give Away. That is an on going process. We will choose the winners in roughly 2 weeks time. Those of you not on our Mailing List may want to get on that so as to be eligible to win.

Since I went to Gary Con a week ago, I figured I could talk about that event a little bit.

It's a GaryCon thing !

As I mentioned in my previous post, this is a really well organized event. At the same time, it isn't such a big event that you get lost in the crowd.

If you are somewhat introverted like myself, the idea of places full of people is not exactly your ideal setting. I personally have avoided conventions for decades because I just don't like crowds, and yet the experience of Gary Con has changed my perspective: Maybe I just don't like certain types of crowds?

The first thing you'll notice at Gary Con, which is perhaps unique to a large event like this, is that you feel like you belong. As you walk into the venue there are clusters of people in the lobby and you can feel the energy and excitement around you; I'm not kidding, it's a palpable sensation and it overtakes you without you realizing it. You are at Gary Con and you are surrounded by like minded people who are there to meet new friends and talk about gaming.

Once you get oriented, you wander down the hallways toward the game rooms. A small display is set up in the hall. It's dimly lit and if you aren't observant, you may pass by it completely. This is The Table of Honor; set up as a remembrance of Gary Gygax. What is most impressive, is that it is not impressive. It is understated.

It's hard not to be moved by this small display. I spent several minutes standing there and thinking about Gary Gygax. I definitely sent Gary some good thoughts wherever he is.

By this time in the evening everyone has either headed for the bars, or settled into some kind of game. As you pass door after door of gamers, you wont be able to resist peeking into these rooms just to see what is going on.

What you'll find is hundreds of people who are enjoying each other's company and playing RPG's.

My main mission was to find my friends and sure enough after about an hour of wandering I managed to run into David Megarry with his wife Rose as they were leaving the TSR VIP party and they joined me as I had a late dinner.

Psst - the food at this event is quite good, and you can take your drink with you anywhere on the premisses.

I'll leave some photos to go with these impressions. You must pardon my lame camera phone. These pictures aren't intended as any kind of high quality journalism, I am sharing these here to give you an idea of what it's like to be there. These photos are of gamers I don't even know, yet I see all these gamers and I think "hey that's me! I'm a gamer, I know this kind of people."

For me personally the images are just little memory triggers I can look at for years to come and recall a time when I did something different and enriching.

You may ask yourself why would I go somewhere and do what I already do at home with my own friends. That was my attitude for years now and I have friends who kept saying, "When are you coming to GaryCon."

All I can say is that the event is singular and if you haven't been to a GaryCon you can't understand it. You can't predict your sensations and thoughts. It's literally -a GaryCon thing- that can only be appreciated by experiencing it. My advice to anyone considering this event, is that one should expect to find the unexpected.

Needless to say, I am going to be booking my stay for next year fairly soon because the timer is already ticking away: http://garycon.com/

And again, how do you win a poster? FOLLOW OUR FACEBOOK PAGE (Check! you've done that right?) ;)

...and GET on our MAILING LIST at the website here:


We are a self funded indy feature film production and we rely on our fan base...

- :) YOUR FACE HERE :) -

...to help get the word out about this film.

All it takes is a single click!

Watch the Movie Trailer here.

​Whew, what a week it's been.

Back from Gary Con!

What to say, hmmm...

Gary Con is the finest convention one can go to, an incredible job was accomplished by Luke Gygax and Co.

READ THIS WHOLE RANT - WE'RE GIVING AWAY POSTERS

First off, that's me photo bombing a picture of a Chain Mail game at Gary Con. (Photo credit: Patrick Bobeck) I'm the standing guy at the far table playing Strategos-N.

It had been decades since my last convention and I was very surprised at how this convention was run. I'm sure that there was a lot of running around by staff to deal with the various fires that arise at an event this big, but from my perspective Gary Con is the smoothest running convention I have ever witnessed.

The setting for the event is amazing. And the table service for drinks and snacks is excellent.

Although the primary objective was to screen 35 minutes of the film draft, I also managed to get in on a couple of games.

An Empire of the Petal Throne game where I got to be a Pei Choi priestess; my favorite alien race from Tekumel.

A napoleonic minis battle with Ross Maker; he was using Strategos N as the rules system. Five of us were pitted against David Wesely who was defending a town with his army, there is a blog post about it here.

Perhaps most interesting about the napoleonic battle was the team play aspect. Sure it's nitty gritty historical war gaming, but it's also very social as the linked blogger noted.

I would say that the one thing many of the gamers at the convention did not do, is explore things they were not familiar with. So while all the RPG games were loaded with players, the Legends of Gaming room had some games that came up short on players. If you ever go to Gary Con, make an effort to try something you would normally never play.

For instance, if one of the directors of Secrets of Blackmoor walks up to you and says: "You want to play a napoleonics battle with Ross Maker and David Wesely don't-cha?" You say yes, and follow me to the table for some awesome gaming. Sad to say, most did not. :(

I also got roped into a game of Braunstein with David Wesely. That was really fun. Since the player turnout was low, we all ended up playing 2 factions, which made for some crazy flip flop role playing. Even more fun: The farm worker's union and the factory worker's union conspired to create havoc, by burning down a fancy hotel, so that the arms dealer would negotiate in our favor, while also being able to prove that the local militaries really needed to buy more guns to suppress all the insurrections that we were fomenting as a ruse. Again, what a shame to see the original RPG being played and so few signing up for it.

A heartfelt SHOUT OUT and THANK YOU to those who could make it to the first screening of Secrets of Blackmoor. Let us know where you display that autographed limited edition poster once you get it home. ;) Better yet, send us a picture of it in situ!

It was really nice to meet everyone in person. :)

Also, a THANK YOU to Kevin McColl for providing tech support during the screening.

Kevin posted some shots here.

POSTERS:

I really wanted a limited edition color poster with only 150 copies printed -- But I couldn't make it to GaryCon you say?

Well, here's the deal, we saved some for our online fans. Fifty of you will be lucky winners of these posters. Not only that, but we had these posters signed by the people who are in the movie: David Wesely, David Megarry; Ross Maker; Bill Hoyt, and Ken Shepro. Maybe we can get the directors to sign it as well.

Ken couldn't make it up to the convention, so I drove to his home and had him sign the remaining posters; only winners of the giveaway will get his signature.

So how do you win a poster? FOLLOW OUR FACEBOOK PAGE (Check! you've done that right?) ;)

...and GET on our MAILING LIST at the website here.

We will be posting some Gary Con photos through the week. Right now I am in recovery from all the socializing, gaming, and driving.

We are a self funded indy feature film production and we rely on our fan base...

- :) YOUR FACE HERE :) -

...to help get the word out about this film.

All it takes is a single click!

Watch the Movie Trailer here: